Customer Reviews

Death in Little Tokyo (A Ken Tanaka Mystery)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Grabs you on the first page and pulls you right through to the suprise ending. A good, honest read with an interesting and touching treatment of Asian subject matter. I look forward to reading everything Furutani writes.

Well written and not overwritten. A welcome relief from the bloated 'suspense' paperbacks crowding the bookshelves. Ken Tanaka is a pleasant, modest, but tenacious guy who goes from mystery game to real life-detecting without missing a beat. The beautiful blonde walking into the office and whispers from the past lives of the characters are at once homage to and continuation of the Marlow/Chandler tradition. The customs and viewpoints of the Japanese-Americans were for me particularly engaging. Furutami does an excellent job of weaving this cultural heritage with its pains and graces into a very American art form. Oh yes, the plot is way above average. Will the Kendo Agency go from prop to the unemployed Tanaka's full time occupation? Does a man have to do something when his partner gets killed?

Not only is this book entertaining, but it also educates. There is information about AA, about Japanese culture in Hawaii and California, about the treatment of US citizens of Japanese descent during WW II (at which we should all be appalled), about LA sociogeography, and more. These asides do not detract from the story. The book's plotting and characters are well-developed. I recommend this book to anyone who reads mysteries.

A Good nights read. This one shouldn't take you to long, but you will enjoy it (at least I did). Clever premise and believable action. I was sorry it ended so soon. I identified with the main character, being half Japanese. Nice to see a "detective" with a little ethnic twist.

I enjoyed this book very much and I am looking forward to reading the next in this series. Ken Tanaka is a likeable and intelligent character as is his love interest. The details on the Japanese culture are quite interesting and informative. The book reads very fast.
Reeviews

The "who done it" part of the book was very good. At the beginning of the book I would never have guessed "who did it".

What I did not like about this book is the fact every chance the author had he gave a "lecture" about race in America and how bad Americans treat Asoian Americans. There are problems with the way the Americans treat people, but the main purpose of this book was to tell the readers how bad Asian Americans are treated not to be a mystery book.